Jamie Lidell Does What He Does...Again
Jamie Lidell's been in town so much this year he's practically established residence. Saturday's performance at Neumos marked at least the fourth time this year he's come through to wow Seattle audiences, all in support of his acclaimed album Multiply. Announcing near the end of his set that this was his last swing of dates for this album, Seattlest and the rest of the audience took in a repeat of what they'd already seen, but in much the same way that the brilliance of the sunrise doesn't diminish over time, Lidell's charisma and command of the stage didn't fail to entertain.
After a string of lineup changes, the night started with local production duo Tekgnosis. Performing a tandem set, m.0 and Bird established a party mood from the outset with their live techno. While some passers-by felt a bit intimidated by their beats (it was a bit harder than expected for the hour), the crowd's dancing meant that their output wasn't unwelcome. Tekgnosis fed off the crowd's energy, looking like they would leap from the stage at any moment to join the growing mass of percolating people.
Last minute replacement DJ Eddie took to the decks after Tekgnosis. Never a slouch in the enthusiasm department (he's seemingly adopted permagrin as a lifestyle), Eddie played his set with all the giddiness of a kid on their birthday, appropriate since Eddie was celebrating his own that night. The crowd bounced along to Eddie's prime selection of techno, but after about an hour, the crowd's mood shifted as they waited for Lidell to take the stage.
More about Lidell (including comments on his ridiculous outfit) after the jump.
Lidell took to the stage just before midnight, looking reasonable from the waist down with patent leather shoes and tuxedo pants. He chose to exhibit his eccentric fashion sense with his oversized animal print hoodie, which made Lidell look like an extra from the Flintstones. But it wasn't about fashion sense, it was about the music (man), and once again, Jamie Lidell delivered the goods.
Lidell confidently alternated between soulful ballads and loop-based techno-soul hybrids, slowing things down tempo-wise from the openers, but keeping the energy level high. Improvisations this time around fell a bit more into techno territory, the looping based more in percussion than vocal layering. The singing and dancing from the diehards at the front was also a wonderful change to the experience, with Lidell offering his mic to fans for a few choruses.
Lidell played two songs that were new to us, both seemingly indicating that things won't be changing too much when he has a new album to support. And why should they? While we're more than ready for new material, the fact remains that Lidell is one of the best performers we've seen all year. He surprised us the first time we saw him and has never failed to entertain us every time since. So to know that his new work won't go too far from what he's already done is comforting. Why fix what isn't broken? That said, we're confident that Jamie will find a way to surprise us once again.
Image from flickr user emayoh
